Overview of the School of Education

In the School of Education, students will learn about issues concerning the formation of the human character and human development through “education” and “educational psychology” approaches. Most people tend to associate “education” with children; however, education is not a subject limited to children and infants. Students will learn about human development throughout a lifetime, ranging from adolescence to adulthood, and even the elderly. Education studies is said to be the science of overall human formation. Kyushu University School of Education is dedicated to providing meticulous small-group instruction and strives for unique research. Although not specifically designed for the purpose of teacher training, students can acquire a teaching license for junior high school social studies and high school geography, historical science and civics, etc. by taking certain classes available at the Kyushu University School of Education. With a close relationship to the School of Education, the Graduate School of Human-Environment Sciences, Department of Clinical Psychology and Community Systems, Clinical Psychology Course, became the first graduate school to receive the Class I Designated Graduate School status by the Foundation of the Japanese Certification Board for Clinical Psychologists. Students must complete the clinical psychology practice major in order to be eligible to take the certification examination to become a qualified clinical psychologist.

• Lecture Buildings
  The majority of lectures will be held in these buildings. A relatively small number of seminars and graduate school seminars, however, will be held in the research buildings.
• Student Salon
  This location is used specifically as a meeting space for students enrolled in this faculty. It is also equipped with computers and can be used to gather information for job searching, among others.
• Joint Humanities Library Reading Room
  Students can receive assistance in writing their reports and graduation thesis. Open until 10pm, it can also be used for seminar preparation.
• Joint Humanities Library
  The Joint Humanities Library holds the most books in Kyushu University. The Central Library is only a three-minute walk.

　In May 1925, an education course was established in the Faculty of Law and Literature at Kyushu Imperial University. The educational system reform following the war founded the current Kyushu University and the School of Education was established independent of the Faculty of Law and Literature in May 1949. Following the war, Japan promoted building a nation based upon democracy. During this time, the School of Education was established to reflect Japan’s new mission towards education and learning. In addition to the conventional theoretical education research set forth by Japan’s new mission, the School of Education introduced an extensive range of fields in the research of education, which included psychology, society, political policy, finance, school education and social education. Because these fields of education are indispensable, capable faculty provide training in research, guidance in the spectrum of education and highly specialized knowledge. The School of Education also offers a teacher training course to the entire university. Based on the Teacher Training Teachers License Act, students are required to acquire education in three general subjects or specialized courses. These efforts at Kyushu University’s School of Education hoped to establish the department as a leader in the field of education. The first Educational Psychology teaching unit began in April 1950 and the Education History unit (which became Education Social History in 1994) and the second Educational Psychology unit began in 1951. These units became the basis for development of research at the School of Education. The foundations for establishing a new scholarly organization in the academic field of education were to follow. In 1952 the Comparative Education course and Education Technology course were opened, the Education Financial course (which became the Education Administration course in 1963) began in 1953, and the Education Society course commenced in 1954. In anticipation of the new sciences arising from the new era, postgraduate majors in Education and Educational Psychology were established in 1953.

　Japan achieved rapid economic growth following the war, which prompted the internationalization of Japanese society. Today, the influence of international relations extends beyond the economy and influences politics, society and culture. This is undoubtedly the era of globalization. Educational research of such social phenomena requires international comparative research. In anticipation of the approaching era, Kyushu University’s School of Education was quick to launch educational comparative research. The Comparative Education course established in 1952 was Japan’s first course in the field of comparative educational research. In order to further the field of comparative educational research, the School of Education planned to establish a private research institution. At that time, the governor of Fukuoka Prefecture appealed to local communities for donations and the Rockefeller foundation provided $55,800 of assistance and became a partner in research. The results of such efforts established an affiliated comparative educational research facility in 1955. It can be said that Japanese comparative educational research began at Kyushu University’s School of Education. Another characteristic of Kyushu University’s School of Education is taking the field of education psychology seriously. The first educational psychology course was established in 1950, the second educational psychology course was opened in the following year. Furthermore group dynamics (1961), counseling (1962), handicapped children (1975) and lifetime development (1992) related courses were opened, which made the university the one of the most wide-ranging faculty in Japan. From November 1954, professors of educational psychology expanded into the field of education consultation. And with the permission from the Ministry of Education, the psychological education consultation course was opened in 1981. Studies regarding handicapped children became more of a focus and Affiliated Handicapped Children Clinical Centre was established with the purpose of promoting research and practice. In order to further strengthen research and clinical practice, these two establishments were unified in 1995 to form a new affiliated development psychology center (after 1999 it became affiliated with postgraduate human environment research). The regional community and society’s contributions towards opening the undergraduate and postgraduate course are a significant characteristic of Kyushu University’s School of Education. The society education course was opened in 1966 and became a focus of the annual social education directors meeting and contributes largely to training leaders in social education. Fukuoka City and Kitakyushu City organized a short-term training program for all education committee members in Fukuoka prefecture. With the intent to raise the level of faculty management, many of the vice-principals who completed the program became principals and are actively participating in their region. The human environment research science was established in April 1998 within the organization of the postgraduate school of educational research sciences (it was reorganized in 2000 and became the human environment educational institution). There are a masters and doctorate course available to members of society and the available array of fields serves to fulfill the world’s educational needs. In such ways, Kyushu University faces new challenges by constantly interacting with changes in society.